Super Bowl Quarterbacks Trivia Quiz

Answer: They went to the same college

Bart Starr and Joe Namath couldn't be much more different in many people's eyes. Starr was such a reverent straight-arrow that some of his own teammates later confessed to feeling uncomfortable around him. Namath epitomized the free-wheeling and hedonistic lifestyle of the late 1960s.

But before they quarterbacked their teams to victories in the first three Super Bowls, winning game MVP honors in the process, they'd both played for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Bear Bryant called Namath (along with Cleveland Browns tight end Ozzie Newsome) the greatest athlete he ever coached.

Answer: The winning quarterback had a reptile nickname

Raider quarterback Ken Stabler had a memorable career, highlighted by leading the storied franchise to its first Super Bowl title. He was nicknamed, "Snake". Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton, whose teams lost Super Bowls to the Dolphins, Steelers, and Raiders, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. Three of the losing quarterbacks in the first ten Super Bowls (including Tarkenton twice) were later enshrined in Canton.

Answer: First starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl in his only season with the team

Trent Dilfer, a nice man and model citizen, is often regarded as the worst quarterback to have won a Super Bowl. He spent his first six NFL seasons with Tampa Bay, becoming the first Buccaneer quarterback to play in a Pro Bowl, winning more games than any previous QB in franchise history, and leading the team to its first playoff victory since 1982 (a span of 15 years).

The team dismissed him in early 2000 to avoid paying him a large bonus. He signed on with the Ravens and sat on the bench until the 10th game of the season, then led the team to seven straight victories, the playoffs, and ultimately a Super Bowl win.

Despite his reliable performance, the Ravens discharged him after the season, making him the first Super Bowl quarterback to have won the game in his only season with the team.

Answer: Earl Morrall

Earl Morrall stepped in so masterfully for an injured Johnny Unitas in the 1968 season that he won NFL MVP honors for the year. Facing the New York Jets in the Super Bowl though, he was just 6/17 in passing, with three interceptions and 71 yards (with two of the completions, for 34 yards, coming on the Colts' opening drive) before being replaced by the ailing Unitas. Two years later however, Morrall came into the game when Unitas was injured midway through the second quarter and the Colts trailing 13-6.

He played a fairly steady game and led the team to 10 points in the fourth quarter for a 16-13 win. During the Miami Dolphins' undefeated 1972 season, Morrall started the last nine games after Bob Griese was injured during the regular season, plus their divisional playoff game. Griese returned for the AFC championship and the Super Bowl that year, but Morrall collected his second Super Bowl ring as the Dolphins won Super Bowl VII.

He remained with the team for Super Bowl VIII, again seeing no action, but becoming the first quarterback to get three rings.

Answer: Craig Morton

Craig Morton was 12/26, one TD, three INT, 126 yards as his Dallas Cowboys lost to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V, then was 4/15, 0 TD, four INT, 39 yards in Super Bowl XII before being replaced by Norris Weese, as his Denver Broncos lost to the Cowboys. Morton's combined Super Bowl performance (16/41/165/0/7) nets out to a passer rating of 11.78. What's worse, the rating, or being benched for Norris Weese, is a topic worthy of intense debate.

Answer: Len Dawson

Five days before Super Bowl IV, national news reports linked Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson to a gambler named Donald "Dice" Dawson (no relation), who was arrested and found to be carrying the quarterback's telephone number. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle immediately issued a statement absolving Len Dawson of any suspicion, but the incident capped a nasty period of a few months in which Dawson was injured and had his father die.

In the Super Bowl itself, he played a magnificent game, led the Chiefs to an upset over the Minnesota Vikings, and was named MVP.

Answer: Won the first Super Bowl he played in, then lost the Super Bowl the following year

Favre and Joe Theismann have won a Super Bowl, then lost the next year's game. Theismann's Redskins won Super Bowl XVII over the Miami Dolphins, then with an even more powerful team the next year, lost to a Los Angeles Raiders team that they'd beaten in the regular season. Favre's Packers beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, then lost to the Denver Broncos the following year.

Answer: Being the second quarterback to win a Super Bowl for their team

Some of these teams have checkered Super Bowl histories and some have decades of glory, but all won the game at least twice, and the quarterbacks mentioned were the second ones to win the Super Bowl for those teams. Among QBs mentioned in the question, Williams was one of three to have won a Super Bowl with the 1982-91 Redskins (Joe Theismann and Mark Rypien were the others), Hostetler was standing in for the injured Phil Simms when the Giants won Super Bowl XXV four years after winning their first, and Marino (and David Woodley) both had chances to become the Dolphins' second quarterback to win a Super Bowl but couldn't. Tom Brady has an impressive NFL record, but of course, as the first Patriots quarterback to win a Super Bowl, it would be impossible for him to also be the second person to do so.

Answer: All of these

Every athlete dreams of going out on top, and few athletes have so earned the right to live the dream as Elway did when he retired after winning Super Bowl XXXIII. That was his fifth Super Bowl start, something no other quarterback had done before, and he had to endure the horrors of his first three starts to get to that point. Elway's Broncos lost those games by increasingly worse scores, and after their 55-10 drubbing by the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV, some Denver fans actually rooted against their team ever playing for another title, just to spare the embarrassment on such a visible stage. Eight years later though, Elway and the Broncos had returned, and they won back to back Super Bowls against the Packers and the Falcons.

Besides avenging his earlier losses, these games gave Elway the distinction of being the first QB to both win and lose consecutive Super Bowls. Fran Tarkenton and Jim Kelly had lost consecutive Super Bowls. Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, and Troy Aikman had won consecutive Super Bowls.

But none before had done both.

Answer: Youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl

Bart Starr (33) and Len Dawson (31) started the first Super Bowl, making it easy for Lamonica, 26 years old at the time, to become the youngest Super Bowl quarterback when he started Super Bowl II for the Oakland Raiders. After that, the record for youngest Super Bowl quarterback was held by Joe Namath (25 when his Jets won Super Bowl III), Joe Montana (25 when he led his 49ers over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI), and David Woodley (24 when his Dolphins lost Super Bowl XVII to the Redskins). Dan Marino, at 23 years and four months, broke Woodley's record, although his Dolphins lost to Montana's 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. Montana remained the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl for almost 20 years, until Tom Brady (24) and Ben Roethlisberger (23 years and 11 months) passed that standard.